DHL has signed a global leasing arrangement with Lease Plan which will see the contract hire operator supply 1,500 vehicles in the UK as part of a deal covering the courier firm's total global fleet of more than 10,000.

They will be operated by DHL International (UK) and DHL Systems, with Lease Plan supplying 900 vans and 500 company cars to the former and a further 100 vehicles to the latter.

The fleet will be funded under Lease Plan's actual cost motoring product, Open Calculation, and will be supported by Lease Plan's e-commerce solution, Lease Plan On-Line, enabling all fleet administration tasks to be

conducted via the internet.

For the commercial vehicles, DHL has opted for a dual fuel supply van deal with Ford and Mercedes-Benz and a choice of Volvo, Ford and Renault for its 400 company car drivers working for DHL International. Company car drivers at DHL Systems have an open choice car policy.

DHL had initially looked at cross-border buying of vehicles but this was ruled out when a number of manufacturers proved unwilling to enter negotiations.